Reese man gets life for murder of Midland woman

Mitchell Kukulka, Mitchell.Kukulka@mdn.net

Published
6:30 pm EDT, Thursday, May 16, 2019

Joel Brandon Wallace, of Reese, appears in the 42nd Circuit Court for sentencing after being declared guilty of the murder of his great-aunt, Victoria Kilbourne, on May 16, 2019. (Mitchell Kukulka/Mitchell.Kukulka@mdn.net). less

Joel Brandon Wallace, of Reese, appears in the 42nd Circuit Court for sentencing after being declared guilty of the murder of his great-aunt, Victoria Kilbourne, on May 16, 2019. (Mitchell ... more

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Joel Brandon Wallace, of Reese, appears in the 42nd Circuit Court for sentencing after being declared guilty of the murder of his great-aunt, Victoria Kilbourne, on May 16, 2019. (Mitchell Kukulka/Mitchell.Kukulka@mdn.net). less

Joel Brandon Wallace, of Reese, appears in the 42nd Circuit Court for sentencing after being declared guilty of the murder of his great-aunt, Victoria Kilbourne, on May 16, 2019. (Mitchell ... more

Reese man gets life for murder of Midland woman

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Joel Brandon Wallace, who was found guilty in the murder of his great-aunt after a nine-day trial in March, is set to spend the rest of his life in prison following his sentencing on Thursday.

Wallace, 34, was sentenced by Judge Stephen Carras of the 42nd Circuit Court. In a trial ending on March 15, 2019, a jury found Wallace guilty in the murder of Victoria Kilbourne, 74, a Midland beautician who was reported missing on June 26, 2018.

Her remains were found on June 30 in a shallow grave on Wallace's hunting property near Onaway.

Wallace was found guilty on five charges, including homicide-murder first degree premeditated, homicide-felony murder, unlawful imprisonment, forgery and uttering and publishing.

Carras sentenced Wallace to life in prison without the possibility of parole, which is the mandatory sentence for first-degree premeditated murder.

"Your criminal history shows, frankly, that you have no regard for anybody but yourself," Carras said, addressing Wallace.

After Carras mentioned Wallace's previous criminal history, which included the molestation of a 5-year-old girl in 2001, the attempted rape of a 15-year-old girl in 2004 and the attempted rape of his brother's wife, Wallace attempted to object.

Carras explained that Wallace's criminal history could be used in court since it was mentioned in his pre-sentence report.

Wallace then turned his back to Carras and asked the bailiff to escort him away, which Carras did not allow. Wallace said he will attempt to appeal his sentence in the future, which Carras said he had the right to.

"I will appeal under the evidence of the DNA of my (great) aunt's mouth — the unknown male's DNA," Wallace said.

"This defendant been in prison before — he's been involved with the system," Brooks said. "He's been given opportunities to change, and he has not taken advantage of any of those. Instead, he continued to take advantage of people."

To avoid double jeopardy, the charges of homicide-murder first degree premeditated and felony murder were entered as a single count of first-degree murder supported by the theories of premeditated murder and felony murder.

The count of unlawful imprisonment was found to be punishable with up to 30 years in prison with guidelines scored at 58 to 171 months. The charges of forgery and uttering and publishing are both punishable by up to 28 years in prison with guidelines scored at 10 to 34 months.

Prior to sentencing, Wallace had previously filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding verdict on May 6. Carras dismissed the motion, noting it had been filed past the deadline of 21 days following the verdict, and that what Wallace had written in the motion was "just a lot of general, accusation-type stuff" and "nothing of substance."

Kilbourne's niece Michelle Schmitzer spoke on the behalf of the victim's family, when she accused Wallace of taking Kilbourne out of her family's life twice: first after he molested Schmitzer's daughter in 2001 — and subsequently turned Kilbourne against her family — and again when he killed her.

"We're saddened by the fact that we'll never by able experience the person that so many of her friends have so lovingly described throughout this whole ordeal," Schmitzer said.

Schmitzer also accused Wallace's parents of "enabling" his behavior and defending him to the point of turning Kilbourne against Schmitzer's family following the molestation of her daughter. Schmitzer said her family still fears retaliation from Wallace's family even after he was put behind bars.

"My daughters, who are 21 and 23 (years old), began sleeping with loaded guns beside their beds," Schmitzer said. "Every female in our family now carries mace. The sad part is that these things are not there because we fear strangers, but because we fear family — the Wallace family."

Fingerprints found on tape used to bind Kilbourne's hands, feet and mouth were determined to be a match for Wallace by forensic investigator Kenneth Binder of the Michigan State Police, who testified during the trial.

The charges of forgery and uttering and publishing related to Wallace stem from a forged $2,000 check in Kilbourne’s name at the time of her disappearance.